English listening

What is Parkinson’s disease ?

Let’s start with  some basics . In the united states ,it’s estimated that anywhere from 600 000 to 1 million people and more are living with Parkinson’s .and at least  6 000  are diagnosed each year. This makes PD , one of the most common brain  diseases ), second only to Alzheimer’s , age increase of risk of Parkinson’s ,and average age of diagnosis  is  60 , so as our population continues growth get older, and more people are likely to experience PD ,in fact ,people tends to think of  Parkinson’s as an old person disease ,but some person get PD  at 40  or even younger , some disease  can be diagnosed with a lab test ,cholesterol level ,and (blood pressure ) measures to  evaluate for heart disease for example .

We need to test like that in Parkinson, but they don’t exist yet  ,doctors diagnosed Parkinson by completing  medical history and physical examination , they look for two and three classical motor  symptoms which are resting tremor . Stiffness and slowness  of movements .

tremor 颤抖

Stiffness  僵硬

diagnosed 诊断

cholesterol 胆固醇

Is being left handed on advantage ?

It’s not real  advantage ,but usually it’s easier to play against right handed players ,this is simply , because there are more right-handed  players ,so you are more used to practicing and  playing against them ,also when you play against left handers  ,the sidespin come in the opposite way and you have to readjust the ball placement  ,So there is a  small advantage ,if you can choose ,I  would recommend playing  in left handed .

So for  obvious reasons ,it’s not allowed  to move the table 

readjust 调整

Sidespin  侧旋

Home ownership hasn’t  always been  a national obsession.  a century ago , three (quarter  ) of the United Kingdom rent the place they lived . Now ,only about a third of country’s  households are renting . Those  that are have  serious disadvantage if they ever hope to own. This graph shows the relationship between  private rentals ) and  home  ownership in London  . When  Thatcher toke office, private renter were declining steadily . While home ownership  with a  mortgage was on the  rise ,

By the end of her time in 1990 ,this change  dramatically .private rental rose , while those  owning homes with a mortgage dwindled  ,more than  (30 ) years later for the first time in decades .There were more London households private renting that owning a home with a mortgage .

In London ,the average house  price in 1980s ,was something like three or four  times ,the average salary  ,but now in London ,it’s something  likes thirteen times  ,the average salary

mortgage  抵押 按揭

dwindled  减少的

declining 越来越少的

steadily 逐渐的 稳步的

obsession 困扰

The company was founded in 2002 ,the same year it debuted is classic clog   ,the name crocs was inspired by  crocodiles ,who live on land and in water . 

When crocs shoes were first (released ) ,they were intended for a consumer when looking at them   as a functional things  ,probably gardeners   people that were on boats ,

People that walked  all day on their feet ,people that were on a line at the kitchen .

The part of what makes them so functional is material , a proprietary closed-cell resin calls  croslite ,that’s slip (resistant ) ,light weight and  easy to clean .

Produce a molded shoes is certainly simpler  in a lot of ways that simply than assembling a sneaker , the most underrated advantage they have over the marketplace  is that it’s clear that they are able to  kind of do  things ,that other companies are not be able to do because of their scales , because of   their production capability.

debuted  首次登台

clog  阻塞，堵塞

gardeners  园艺大师

proprietary  所有权 所有的

resin  树脂

slip resistant 防滑

assembling  组装

sneaker  运动鞋

On Thursday night ,there were a visible in southern Ontario , likely  cause a burst of solar energy ,the geomagnetic storm was unexpectedly stronger than anticipated leading to a visual display of different  hues color dancing  amongst  the sky .

Trevor Jone is an astrophotographer ,captured imagines of the  phenomenon from  the comfort of his home 。everyone takes  the notice when you see ribbons of green and pink in the night  sky ,so ,the last time I saw it this good is 2011, it’s  been  a long time  since I’ve seen the Northern night like  this well from southern Ontario .while  it feel like  a rarity to Jone ,there is a chance rather like could be visible  again  Friday night .

Get way from city like bruce ,and If you can , your eyes can get dark  adapted for 25 to 30 mins ,that’s you best chance ,then actually seeing  the Northern lights ,

And even you miss tonight ,the Northern light could be visible around southern Ontario more often .

geomagnetic storm 磁暴 

hues 色调

burst 爆发

comfort 舒服

ribbons 绸缎 丝带

第一遍盲听，第二遍原文查看

QingMing ,is not only one of the china’s 24 solar terms, but also  an occasion  for chinese people to honor their lost  family members . Speaking of solar terms ,QingMing ,which is observed in  early April ,when  the temperature begin to rise , and rainfall increases . It is right time  for spring cultivation  and sowing . At the same time ,chinese people will visit tombs of their ancestors around QingMing to pay respect to the deceased ,  most of the time  , the whole family will go to the cemeteries  with offerings ,clean up weeds  around the tombs , and pray for family prosperity. QingMing was  included as chinese public holiday in 2008 .

occasion 时刻 

sowing 播种

deceased  已故的

weeds 野草

prosperity 繁荣

Qingtuan ,which literally means green bulb ,was (originally )  an offering for  ancestors during QingMing . As 他和 custom of worshiping ancestors , has weakened  with time ,it is now  regard as a favored  spring outing (snack ) , especially popular among people in south of (yangzi) river .

Qingtuan ,is (a round ) green dessert , its green dough is made by mixing glutinous rice flour  with boiled mugwort juice  .  The dough is then wrapped around red bean paste  or other sweet fillings ,  then steamed until cooked ,the combination of  its soft and chewy dough with sweet and smooth filling make it delicious light snack .

Now ,more  new type of qingtuan  are available , and some novel fillings are  even going  viral ,such as egg yolk with meat ,vegetarian option filling with fruit  .

worshiping  敬奉神

dough 面糊

glutinous  粘的，

mugwort 艾草

paste 面糊

steamed  蒸熟

chewy 难嚼的 有嚼劲的

novel 新颖的

viral 迅速传播的

Today ,personality testing is a multi billion dollars industry  ,used by individuals , schools , or companies .but none of these test ,including MBTI, the big five ,the DISC (assessment ), the process communication model and the enneagram . actually reveal  the truths about personality ,in fact ,it’s up for  debate whether the personality is stable measurable  features of an  individual at all . Part of the problems is the way of test are  constructed ,each is based on  different set of metrics  to define personality . the Myers-briggs focus on features like ,introversion ,extroversion  .to classify people into personality types , while  the big five scores participant on five different traits. 

Most are self-reported ,mean the results  are based on question participant  answer about themselves ,so it’s easy to lie ,but even with the best intentions , objective self-evaluation  is tricky .

enneagram 九型人格

traits  特性

 A popular dish in chinese cuisine is Cha Shao  ,or Chinese barbecue pork . Cha shao translate to fork roasted  . The meat is  placed  on an elongated  fork  and roast over the open fire . And it has a slightly charred and reddish-brown color ,finished with a sweet but savory flavor .

In indian , grilling is done inside a clay oven cotta tandoor  , a tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven  that’s  been used in Indian for centuries , it burns at very high heat  , exposing the food side to open flame  in hot air  resulting in confection cooking .

 Some excavation site have  found tandoor clay oven  with chicken bone and char marks dating back to   3000 DC 

Tandoori chicken is known to be one of the Indian’s most popular dishes ,and comes with sides like naan cucumber raita and basmati rice .

elongated 细长的，

savory 可口的 美味的

cylindrical 圆柱形的、

Oven 烤箱

confection 糖果，蜜饯

excavation 挖掘

char 烧焦

Hummingbirds lay the smallest eggs ,the eggs (of bee) Hummingbirds are about 0.2 inches long .Ostrich lay the biggest birds  eggs ,they can weigh up to 5.5 pounds .and they are so hard that a human adult can stand on them without breaking them ,not all eggs are white or brown , the thrush ,bullfinch ,starling and blackbird ,are bird species that lay blue eggs .(Emus) ,lay green eggs ,Oyster catchers ,speckled eggs .

All birds are warm-blooded ),there are only two bird species  that can reduce their body temperature .one of them is the Hummingbirds ,it always needs its energy but they can’t eat during the night , therefore it’ll reduce their body temperature ,and enters  a kind of nighttime torpor, the common (poorwill) also is an exception, it hibernates  for several weeks a temperature  lower than  15 degrees Fahrenheit 

speckled 有斑点的

hibernates 冬眠

torpor 不活泼